Almost two years ago Andrew Strauss was brought back into the England team for the Test series against New Zealand. He struggled at first, before a grinding hundred in the second innings of the final Test to seal England’s series win. But who was this Strauss? Few were the searing offside shots that were a trademark. No, a bad run insisted caution now came first. Bowlers had to err considerably in line or length for Strauss to attack. Then, of course, he got better. In fact he eventually found the form of his life, scoring runs with intimidating conviction.

Alastair Cook may be having his Strauss-in-New Zealand moment. There are differences of course. Cook has never been a quick scorer. He hasn’t been dropped from the team. Indeed, he’s about to become a stand-in Test captain.

But, like Strauss, Cook is applying some technical adjustments. Like Strauss, he has ferociously reigned in his shots, notably in his weak area, the corridor. Good line and length outside off? Cook leaves. Again, again, and again.

Cook faced 625 balls in the South Africa Test series, 468 of them resulting in no run. Of his 287 runs, 31% of them came on the offside. Cook has always been keen on the onside, but to kick on he will surely have to present more of a problem to bowlers who, at present, know exactly where to spear the ball.

He has passed his first test: to succeed through caution and will. One hundred, two fifties and a series average of 41 prove it. Can he move to stage two of the Strauss process? Cook will never be known for his scoring rate but a policy of leaving almost everything outside off cannot be a lasting tactic. He must, like Strauss, use the disciplined innings of late as a source of confidence to ease his way into becoming a multi-dimensional Test cricketer.

But unlike Strauss, Cook’s critical phase comes just as he has been asked to captain the Test team in Bangladesh. It should have been the perfect tour at the perfect time for Cook the batsman: a low-key Test series against weaker opposition with the Ashes – and an Australian team who will mercilessly test that outside-off policy – looming at the end of the year. Instead he may see the two Bangladesh Tests as part-determining whether he will be a future England Test captain.

Good luck to him.

Benj Moorehead is editorial assistant of The Wisden Cricketer